For me, this gets down to questions about what “the networks” are and what we expect them to/think they can do. I would tend to say, yes, prime-time broadcast always meant mainstream and mainstream always meant white 🙂 (middle-class, patriarchal, and heterosexist, too). Of course, there were eras, genres, and series that deviated from mainstream values, but they always needed to negotiate with the mainstream. But more than that was the “dream” of the network, that somehow diversity on TV would lead to diversity in the real world. Herman Gray has a nice chapter on this in Culture Moves, where he asks why so many African Americans are invested in the idea of the broadcast network. It may be time in media studies to critically examine how our own unrecognized investments in the dream of the netowrk might have influenced our theoretical perspecticves on TV.

Another read of this, of course, is that BET FINALLY has a well-performing, scripted series on! I think it’ll be interesting to see how the changed industrial context for the series might lead to representational/ideological changes in the series.

Yes, The Game was underperforming on The CW (though it’s important to note that “underperforming” is not a huge step from “performing well” on that particular network)–but it seems to me that there are circumstances here under which the series could have succeeded on network TV, given the proper support and promotional power. This constant use and abuse of black audiences to build audience for fledgling networks, and abandonment once that function is filled, is troubling to me.

And no–I don’t think any network ever sacrificed ratings for diversity. And I’m usually one who says, “Look, this is the game, this the way it’s played, let the chips fall.” But in this case, I think we’re wading into problematic waters with regards to what this move means not only for TV, but for audiences and society more broadly. I’m not necessarily saying, “Shame on you, CW”, but I am saying that there’s a dangerous precedent being set here that we should be paying attention to.

I think another consequence of this shift (outside of the absence of minorities on networks, which you rightly observe is growing more concerning by the season) is both the critical and media coverage of the series in its new home. As it stood, The CW was considered a lesser network, and its programming received far less coverage from both critics and journalists; now, with the move to BET, the series seems to have fallen even further into relative obscurity.

I certainly think we could argue that this was a racial component, with BET not considered mainstream thanks to its intense focus on African American audiences, but I think there’s also an industrial component as well. BET isn’t just a cable network, it’s a cable network not known for original programming, and a network with programming that is quite far removed from any notion of quality.

And thus, to sort of answer the question of “Why are TV Critics Ignoring The Game?” posted at Pop Scribblings (in reaction to a lack of critics tweeting during the panel focused on the show at the ongoing TCA Press Tour), I think it’s that the show is moving to a location which most TV critics (and most TV journalists) couldn’t find on their dial.

And since The Game isn’t quite Conan O’Brien, and because BET isn’t quite as comfortable as TBS, I think the show’s shift has not only set a dangerous precedent but also fallen into a sort of industrial blind spot, one which I (like you) found myself in until relatively recently.

Thanks for shedding some light!